Injury Forces Navratilova to Withdraw From Manhattan Beach Tournament

Martina Navratilova, who lost her grip on the No. 1 ranking in women’s pro tennis last August at Manhattan Beach, was forced to withdraw from this year’s event because of an injury.

Navratilova said she suffered a pulled hamstring and hip flexor in her right leg during a quarterfinal match against Ros Fairbank at Wimbledon. Navratilova subsequently aggravated the injury in the singles and mixed doubles semifinals and in the singles final against Steffi Graf. Graf defeated Navratilova, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1, to stop Navratilova’s bid for a record ninth Wimbledon singles title.

The withdrawal of Navratilova comes three weeks before the start of the $300,000 Virginia Slims of Los Angeles tournament, Aug. 8-14, at Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach, and leaves the event with three of the top five ranked players--Chris Evert (No. 3), Pam Shriver (No. 4) and Gabriela Sabatini (No. 5).

In 1987, the top four ranked players--Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Evert and Hana Mandlikova--competed at Manhattan Beach.

This year, according to the most recent rankings, 4 of the top 10 have entered Manhattan Beach as opposed to 8 of the top 10 in 1987.

Tournament director Jan Diamond said she believes there is no chance that the No. 1-ranked Graf will enter Manhattan Beach. Diamond felt the same way in 1987 before Graf entered less than a week before the tournament.

Graf became No. 1 at Manhattan Beach last year when she won the championship with a straight-set victory over Evert, who surprised Navratilova in the semifinals. Navratilova, whose only scheduled tournament before the U.S. Open is the Canadian Open in Toronto, Aug. 15-21, has won the Slims of Los Angeles four times, her most recent title coming in 1986.